‘Quick Facts’ Feature Turns Google Maps into Your Personal Tour Guide

Google announced Wednesday that it has added a new feature to its Maps service that turns it into something of an informative guide.

Users can already click on notable landmarks and buildings for directions and addresses, but now many places feature a “quick facts” section with information about the location.

The details vary in each place, but Maps can generally give you the basics.

Click on the Empire State Building in New York City, for example, and a small box will tell you its height (1,250 feet), the number of stories (103), and the date construction began (1929). Go to Le Bernardin, one of Midtown Manhattan’s most well-known restaurants, and “quick facts” tells you when it was started (1972), its total number of Michelin stars (three) and its founders (Gilbert and Maguy le Coze).

For now, the “quick facts” feature is only available on the desktop version of Google Maps, but it’s an addition that makes the service more interactive and more fun to use.